Hands
by HopefulNebula
Summary: A retelling/expansion of the meditation scene from "Sleeping Dogs."


HANDS  
by HopefulNebula (aka LyraSilvertongue)  
  
Author's Note: "Hands" is really a song by Jewel. If you want to hear the whole thing, buy her CD "Spirit" and play Track 3. I don't own it, and never will. (Though I would enjoy having her lovely voice...)  
  
Shameless Plug for a Great Website: Be sure to visit http://www.terranbbs.com. It's the coolest place on the Net, but be sure to check your sanity at the door. My handle there is LyraSilvertongue. (Guess who gets paid for referrals. OK, not really. But join anyway!)  
  
Disclaimer: I own absolutely squat here. Don't sue. I'm terminally broke. (And I only wrote this because I'm terminally bored. I wonder which will get me first?) If Starfleet-- er, Paramount-- would give me Trip, I would be greatly indebted. ;-) (mmmm..... Trip...... ::drools::)  
  
  
  
Hoshi Sato was about to panic. *I never should have been on this away mission,* she thought. *I get too scared too quickly, and by way too much.* Corpses on hooks were bad, she mused, but being trapped in the mess hall of an imploding Klingon ship had to be infinitely worse. There were everything from live animals that resembled vicious wild boars and worms that Klingons considered a delicacy while still alive. Hoshi wondered if Klingons even drank water.  
Somehow, without realizing it, Hoshi had sat on a surface near a countertop. Her legs were mutinying against her body; they refused to carry her while her brain focused on the paralyzing fear coursing through her veins.  
Forgetting the fact that T'Pol was in the room with her, Hoshi said "I promised myself I wouldn't do this." The tone of defeat permeated every syllable in the sentence. *It's true,* she mused. *I told myself not to be afraid. I knew I could survive here. At least I thought I could...*  
T'Pol was in a section of the galley slightly behind Hoshi when she heard the ensign. Something had to be done to quell her fear and anxiety; that was certain. She decided to say something to comfort her.  
"You're on an alien ship, under difficult circumstances." (At this, thoughts such as *Difficult? Vulcans understate everything, don't they?* found their way into Hoshi's mind.) "Your anxiety is understandable."  
Something about T'Pol's latter statement sounded odd to Hoshi, and she couldn't figure out exactly why.  
Then she understood. "Don't you mean, for a human?"  
"You can't deny your nature," came T'Pol's steady reply.  
Hoshi's next words came nearly unbidden. "This may sound stupid, but..."  
T'Pol paused her search and turned herself to face Hoshi. She could see the ensign clearly between two hanging targs.  
"Sometimes I envy you," Hoshi continued. Upon seeing T'Pol's decidedly Vulcan reaction, she added, "I know. Another... pesky human emotion. But there are times I wish I could just ignore my emotions-- bury them, the way Vulcans do." Hoshi was telling her eyes not to start producing tears. Her eyes weren't listening.  
T'Pol hesitated for a moment before an idea seemed to reach her. She set her flashlight down and positioned herself in front of Hoshi, who barely seemed to notice.  
Hoshi was expecting some form of admonishment for letting her emotions take over, so she was naturally astonished at what T'Pol said next.  
"Take my hand," T'Pol ordered as she held out her right hand.  
"Excuse me?"  
T'Pol knelt in front of the terrified comm officer. "My hand."  
Hoshi looked at T'Pol for a second before deciding to trust her.  
T'Pol took Hoshi's soft hand and turned it so its palm faced upwards. As she placed her fingers in the position she had been taught, T'Pol suppressed a twinge of ambivalence. Was this a good idea? Would they even be able to connect? What would happen if they did? Yet it was much too late for her to quit, so she continued giving Hoshi instructions.  
"Close your eyes."  
Hoshi stared into T'Pol's eyes for a second before she complied.  
T'Pol imagined her meditation pad below her and one of her candles on the floor in front of her. The very idea of them was calming to her; she was ready to begin. She initiated the connection and was inundated with the essence of Enterprise's communications officer. T'Pol was struck by how intense and controlling Hoshi's emotions were at the moment; they reminded her of the most primal Vulcan emotions that she had worked her life to suppress.  
"Think of yourself on a turbulent ocean."  
Hoshi dimly felt T'Pol's presence in her mind and soul but did not know what the Vulcan was trying to do.  
"You have the power to control the waves."  
At this point, Hoshi knew something wasn't going correctly, so she decided to tell T'Pol. "Whatever you're trying to do, it's not working."  
T'Pol repositioned her fingers against Hoshi's palm and told herself as much as Hoshi to "focus...". The linguist immediately saw and felt the water below her, and could even smell the salt in the air. She also knew that she alone could decide how high or low the waves came.  
"The waves are receding. The water is growing still. You're in control." With each of T'Pol's words, Hoshi saw the waves ebb and lessen until she saw her own reflection in the ocean below her.  
She rested in her own calm for what seemed like several minutes before opening her eyes. Her next coherent thought came as she spoke the same words to T'Pol: "Wow. That was... amazing."  
*It certainly was,* T'Pol reflected. "When we return to the ship, I'll show you how to do it on your own." She folded the linguist's hand onto itself as she broke the final shreds of the link they had shared.  
  
  
  
The lyrics to a very old song by a singer named Jewel would always remind Hoshi of that time in the Klingon ship: "If I could tell the world just one thing it would be / That we're all okay / And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful and useless in times like these. / I won't be made useless. / I won't be idle with despair..."  
And thanks in part to T'Pol's kindness, but mostly to her own courage and determination, she never was. 


End file.
